By Angelo A. Paparelli, Amanda Adamczenko
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of WERC.
With an array of executive orders (EOs), President Trump has affirmed his commitment to controlling immigration as a core priority of his second term, emphasizing the need to enforce stricter immigration policies and prioritize national security. Since taking office, he has followed through on his promise to launch a whole-of-government campaign to apprehend and deport millions of foreign nationals residing in the United States without legal status. At the same time, he has maintained support for legal immigration, recognizing the importance of skilled workers, especially those with expertise in AI technologies.
An efficient and surefire way to implement these Trump administration priorities—both stanching illegal immigration and fostering legal immigration—is readily available in the form of a revitalized and expanded stateside visa renewal program similar to a pilot program that expired on 1 March 2024. Under the pilot, up to 20,000 holders of H-1B visas—issued to foreign workers in specialty occupations—were allowed to renew their visas while remaining in the U.S. by submitting applications to the State Department from within the country.
Applicants for stateside visa renewals are required to complete their visa application (Form DS-160) online, pay the required fee, and mail their original passport to a designated State Department address in the United States. The DS-160 asks an array of probing questions, including present address and past activities that may reveal either compliance with or violations of U.S. immigration laws. Possessed of this knowledge, State Department officials would thus have a ready means of implementing a 20 January 2025 EO, “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.” This EO directs the secretary of state, in cooperation with the attorney general, the secretary of homeland security, and the director of national intelligence to “promptly … vet and screen to the maximum degree possible all aliens who … are already inside the United States …”
Another EO, “One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations,” signed on 12 February 2025, mandates significant reforms within the U.S. Foreign Service to ensure alignment with the president’s foreign policy agenda. The secretary of state is directed to implement changes in recruitment, performance evaluation, retention standards, and training programs to achieve this alignment. While the order does not directly address visa issuance, it emphasizes streamlining U.S. foreign relations and improving operational efficiency, measures which would be advanced by reintroducing the stateside visa renewal program.
Expanding this program is a practical solution to both strengthen immigration enforcement and attract skilled workers. If any noncitizen applicants for stateside visa reissuance are identified as national security threats, criminals, or terrorists, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS), working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), could readily target these individuals for apprehension and removal from the United States.
By allowing stateside visa reissuance, the State Department could also better control the flow of foreign nationals who seek U.S. visas, aligning immigration policies with broader national interests in accordance with the EOs. Thus, consular officers at posts abroad can focus on high-priority cases, such as in-person visa interviews, applications warranting more intense, multi-agency screening known as “administrative processing,” and cases involving national interest exemptions from any forthcoming travel bans or other restrictions. With more resources allocated to these outside-the-U.S. tasks, the overall visa adjudication process would be streamlined.
A revamped and expanded stateside visa renewal program would also buttress another EO, President Trump’s “America First” trade policy for global competitiveness. By facilitating stateside visa issuance for qualified workers and students, the U.S. would be better positioned to attract the best global talent, reinforcing its competitive edge in innovation and economic growth. Pursuing this goal, however, would require expanding the domestic visa renewal program to include other categories beyond the H-1B visa, such as E, L, and O work visa categories. Dependent spouses and minor children of workers should also be included, along with “national-security-sensitive” categories, like F-1 student visas and J-1 exchange visitors.
The launch of a robust stateside visa reissuance program would prove a “win-win-win” scenario—one that is fully aligned with the objectives of the EOs:
- National security threats would be identified and addressed swiftly;
- Consular officers could dedicate their time to issuing visas to the most deserving applicants and preventing the undeserving from gaining entry to the United States;
- America’s global trade would be enhanced;
- Noncitizens who qualify for stateside visa renewal would avoid unnecessary international travel and the long delay in scheduling an in-person interview at a consular post abroad (particularly in light of the new “visa-issued-in-the-last 12 months” restriction on interview waivers announced by the State Department on 18 February 2025); and
- Costs and operational disruptions for businesses and academic institutions that rely on skilled foreign labor and students would be minimized.
In sum, by launching an expanded domestic visa reissuance program, the Trump administration would produce an immigration policy that achieves both security goals and economic growth, ensuring that the U.S. remains a top destination for talent and innovation while better safeguarding our borders.